Potato digger and picker



June 10, 1947. E. D. DAHLMAN POTATO DIGGER AND PICKER Filed Feb. 12, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor: EBEN D. DAHLMAN 5 444. a.

June 10, 1947.- E. DAHLMAN POTATO BIGGER AND PICKER 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed Feb 12; 1944 Inventor:

EBEND'DAHLMAN 9 $264. 25% fitter-ne Patented June "10, 1947 orrics Eben n. Dahlman, Grandy, Application February 12, 1944, SerialNo. 522,100 1 This invention relates to a combined potato digger and picker. With the shortage of manpower and help in agricultural regions, it is very desirable to have a machine which can be operated by a small number of operators and by means of which the potatoes will be handled M fromthe time they are raised from the ground until they aredeposited in bags.

It is an object of this invention to provide a fairly simple and efficient machine constructed and arranged to be drawn by and be driven from a power tractor, the same having a .frame carrying a potato digger and a potato picker, which frame is supported by a singlepair of wheels intermediate the ends thereof.

It is another object of the invention to provide A ger comprises an endless openwork carrier for a the potatoes, the same having a substantially horizontal front end for receiving potatoes from the elevating mechanism of said digger.

It is still further an object of the invention to provide a combined potato digger and picker com- 1 prisin a frame adapted to be connected at its front end to a power tractor, a potato digger carried by said frame at said front end comprising a blade, said frontend having means for raising and lowering the same to determine the position of saidblade, said frame also carryin a potato picker for receiving the dug potatoes, said picker being provided with a bagging mechanism. 7

These and other objects and advantagesof the invention will be fully set forth in the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings in whichlike reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the device;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device, some parts being broken away and others shown in horizontal section;

iii

c l 2 n Fig.4 is a partial plan view showing the picker elevating carrier; and

Fig. dis a partial plan view of another portion of the elevatingcarrier of the picker and digger. Referring to the drawings a machine is shown comprising a frame having longitudinally extending spaced parallelmembers Ill, and while these members could be variously formed, in the embodiment, of the invention illustrated they are shown as channels having their fiangesfacing away from each other Members [0 are connected at theirfront ends by a plate orbar Illa and also by asecond plate or bar IOb some dis-i tance in the rear of bar we, Members in are connected at their rear ends by a plate Inc. S ide plates ll ar secured to members ill in any suitablemanner and these extend upwardly and rearwardly adjacent the rear portion of the frame, the samehaving front portions I la with substantially horizontal top and bottom edges. 'Plates II have their portions I lb which extend downwardly'and rearwardly. Members H are disposed in vertical planes and their'outer sides have secured thereto frame members. Members I2 include portions l2aextendinga1ong members ll adjacent the lower edges thereof and downwardly converging diagonal members l2b'connected by a gusset plate I is at their lower ends. Framemembers are connectedto the channels I!) by bolts or rivets l3 and are connected to the sides of members ll adjacent therear ends of the latter by bolts or rivets I 4. Gusset plates I20 are connected to portions Mb by-the bolts or rivets I5. Horizontally extending members iii are connected to plates I 20 and while these might be variously formed, in theyembodiment of the invention illustrated they are shown as angle bars with their flanges facing outwardly. Members l6 are also connected to members I!) by the vertical bars .11. Bars l6 extend along the outer sides of portions l-la to which they are also connected in. any suitable manner. Portions lb of members VII have a plateor board [8 extending between their lower edges, thus forming a chute with portions l I b. Small plate-like members [9 are connected to the -outer sides of portions [lb and may be provided with lower hook-like portions l 9a adapted to hold thetop of a bag or sack. Aboard orplatelll extends vertically from plate lfland is pivoted to plate l8 at its lower end so that itl may be swung, about said pivot and engage witheither one of theportions H1 7.

The members Ill have connected to their inner sides forwardly ofimembers H plate-like members I22 which extend'upwardlyand rearwardl having their rear ends disposed above members If! and their front ends disposed therebelow. Members 22 are connected to members ID by the bolts or rivets 23. Members 22 taper toward their lower front ends and have secured thereto and extending therebetween a blade or shovel 25. This blade is of the type commonly used in potato diggers and may be divided into prongs at its front end. The members 22 form in effect, the sides of a trough and an endless carrier 26 is arranged between said sides. A shaft 21 extends through and between members 22, the same hav ing its ends journalled in bearings formed in a plate 28 secured to the outer sides of members 22 by the bolts 29. Shaft 21 carries a pair of sprock; ets 30 around which the lower end of carrier 26 passes. Carrier 26 is preferably formed by a series of rod links 32 having their ends reversely bent as shown at 32a and then bent downwardly and rearwardly as shown at 3217. The rod links 32 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, interlink with each other and can move over the sprockets 3|]. Rollers 24' carried in brackets 3| support the lower run of carrier 26. The upper run of carrier 26 is supported upon a plurality of spaced rollers 35 supported respectively upon shafts 36 extending between 'mer'nbers 22 and having their ends iournalle d in bearings therein. At its upper end carrierZG runs over largersprockets 31 secured .to a shaft 38 journalled in bearings 39 secured to the outer sides of plates 22, which shaft has secured at one end a bevelled gear 4!] and at its other end a largerbevelled gear 4|. Bevelled gear 4| meshes with a pinion 42 secured to one end of a shaft 43 journalled in a bearing 44 securedpto one of the bars 0, which shaft extends forwardly and is journalled at its front end in a bearing 45 and is equipped with one member 46a of a universal coupling 46, the other member of which is connected to a shaft 41 in turn adapted to be connected to the tractor motor tobe rotated therefrom. Connected to the cross members 'lli'a; and I011 is a pair of vertically disposed spaced plates 50. Said plates have disosed thtebetween an angle lever which is pivoted to" said plates" by a ivot bolt 52' extending tlieifebetween. one of said members 5|) is formed a s tooth segment" 50a. Lever 51 has a grip handle 5; in the form of a bell crank lever pivoted thereto adjacent its upper end by bivot 54,- which lever is connected by a small rod 55 to a plunger 56 adapted to engage in the notches of segment 500;. Pin orpmsger 56 move'sthrough and is guided in a lug 5|a"'secured'to lever 5|. A compression coiled spring (ma mas) acts on plunger 56,'tending to moveit toward segment 5 |a. Lever 5=| is ofbell crank form, bein pivoted at the angle portion thereof and the rear end of said lever is pivotally connected bya link 51 to the rear end of a bar 58 which is in turn pivoted on; a pin 59 extending between plates 59. Bar 58 at its forward end is bifurcated and adapted to be connected to the hitch Bil of the tractor by means of a headed pin 6| which will preferablvbe equipped belo'w bar 58 with a cotterpin 62.

The frame of the machine comprising members HI and parts carried thereby is supported upon a pair at Wheels 55 carried on an sine 68 .ioilrnalled in bearings 61 secured more bars in. The frame, together' with the digger and picker mechanism, is supported solely on the one pair of wheels.

This pair of wheels as shown, issubstantially between the picker and digger or adjacent the discharge end of the digger and the receiving end of the picker.

A shaft 18 extends between portions Ha adjacent the ends thereof, the same being journalled in hearings in said portions and members it. Shaft 1|] carries sprockets 1| adjacent members II respectively and an endless openwork carrier ?2 runs over or passes around sprockets l i. Carrier 12 is also made of the rods 32 shown in Figs. 4 and 5.. A pair of rollers 13 are disposed above the upper run of carrier 12 and respectively at the sides thereof, the same being journalled on pins M carried in members II. It will be noted that the portion of the upper run of endless carrier 12 between sprockets H and rollers 13 is substantially horizontal and this portion is disposed beneath the delivery end of the endless carrier 26. A plurality of spaced parallel shafts 14 extend between members being journalled in bearings 11, and the same carry rol lers'l fi disposed beneath the upper run of carrierTZ: Another shaft 16 extends between members Ii and is journalled in bearings 18 sethe sides of members H and the same cured to has secured thereto adjacent its ends respecover which the upper end of tively sprockets [9 carrier 12 passes. The lower run of carrier 12 is supported on a roller carried on a shaft Bl journalled in bearings 82 having standards secured to members l6 by bolts 83. Shaft 16 also has securedthereto at the outer side of one member a sprocket 84 over which runs a chain 85 also running over a sprocket 86 secured to a shaft 81 carried in a bearing connected to one of the members l0. Shaft 81 extends beyond sprocket 86 and has secured thereto a bevelled gear 90. Bevelled gear 90 engages at one end a axle bearings 6! and has secured to its end a bevelled gear meshing with 'bevelled gear 40 and engaging the end of bearing 61a. Platforms are provided at each side of the picker mechanism, the same being supported upon angle brackets 91 secured by 'bolts SBJto the members i i. A platform Hill is provided at the rear of the picker mechanism, the same being carried on a bracket Iill having vertical portions secured by bolts N32 to the rear end of member I6; Eyelets I03 are secured in the top of platform I00 and connected by chains I04 to the ends of members I 9. Chains I04 may be constructed and arranged to be adjustable to somewhat vary the position of platform I00. Guard .members I06 are secured beneath the front ends of platforms 96 and have portions extending substantially vertically and I other horizontal portions ||l6a extending o'v 'e'r thetops of wheels 65 respectively.

In operation. the device as shown will be connected to the portion 56 which may constitute a tractor hitch and as stated, shaft 4'! will be connected to the tractor motor so as to be rotated thereby. The operator will adjust l'ever5| so thatthe front end of the digger blade or shovel 25 will be in the desired position. It will be seen that when lever 5| is moved clockwise that the front end of the frame comprising members l0 will be raised and this will, through members 22, raise the blade 25. With the blade 25 properly positioned, the device will be drawn forward over the potato row and the potatoes in the'ground will be lifted by blade 25 and will pass upwardly and rearwardly thereon and onto the elevating mechanism comprising endless member 26. This mechanism will be operated through shafts 47 and 43 and through gears M and 42 which will rotate shaft 33 and sprockets 31. As the upper run of endless carrier 26 moves upwardly there is more or less motion of the bars 32 and some sagging of the bars between the rollers 36 so that a sifting effect is exerted on the potatoes and the very small potatoes and the dirt lifted by blade 25 pass through the carrier 29. The larger po tatoes together with some vines, weeds and other foreign matter, will be carried upwardly on the elevator 26 and these will be discharged onto the front end of endless carrier '32. The potatoes falling on the horizontal portion of carrier 12 are given a chance to supply a position themselves on and between the bars 32 before being carried upwardly. The potatoes are thus evenly distributed and carried upwardly in an evenly distributed arrangement. If the potatoes are delivered to a downwardly inclined portion of an endless carrier they tend to roll down on the carrier and accumulate at the bottom thereof so that they are not carried up in an evenly distributed manner. The horizontal portion of conveyor 12 therefore, performs an important function and the potatoes are given a chance to settie and be engaged by the bars 32 to be carried upwardly thereby. The picking operators stand on the platforms 95 and as the elevating means l2 carries the potatoes and other matter upwardly, the pickers pick out pieces of vine, weeds and any other matter that may be on the carrier so that when the carrier reaches its upper end only the potatoes to be sacked remain thereon. These potatoes are directed into the portion lib which as stated, with member i8 forms a chute and the potatoes are directed by member 20 to one side or the other of the chute and to a bag I if! which will be held at its end in position to receive the potatoes by being engaged on the members Isa. The bag can conveniently rest on platform Mil as shown in Fig. 2. The operator will stand on platform I08 and when the bag is filled he will lift it and place it on the ground. One bag can be placed in position at the end of the delivery chute while another is being filled. The conveyor or elevator 72 is of course, driven from shaft 38 through gears 46 and 94, shaft 32, gears 93 and 98, shaft Bl, chain 85 and shaft 16 to which the driving sprockets 19 are secured. The guard members Nib protect the operators from contact with the wheels 85. If the ground is wet the wheels 65 would carry considerable mud. The potatoes are thus lifted from the ground, sifted, cleaned and bagged in one continuous operation.

From the above description it will be seen that I have provided a comparatively simple, compact and very efiicient potato harvesting machine. The digger and picker are structurally combined with a unitary frame which in turn is carried by a single pair of wheels. The potatoes are handled with much smaller number of operators than where the separate digger and picker are used. It is not necessary at any time to pick the potatoes off of the ground and duplicate operations of picking and bagging heretofore carried out are eliminated. One trip of the tractor and machine along the row results in the complete harvesting and bagging of the potatoes. With the present conditions where producers are asked to increase their production, when manpower is short, such a machine is very desirable and will assist greatly in the desired production of food. The machine has been amply demonstrated in actual practice and found to be very successful and eflicient.

It will of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts, without departingfrom the scope of applicants invention, which generally stated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above set forth, in the parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A combined potato digger and picker constructed and arranged to be drawn and driven from a pofrer tractor having in combination, a frame, a digger supported from said frame comprising a digger blade, an open work elevating mechanism disposed adjacent the rear end of said blade for receiving potatoes from said blade and sifting and elevating the same, means for operating said mechanism from said tractor, a picker supported on said frame comprising an elevating means longitudinally alined with and moving in the same general direction as said elevating mechanism having a substantially horizontal receiving portion disposed below the rear end of said elevating mechanism to receive said potatoes therefrom, means for driving said elevating means from said first mentioned means, said frame comprising spaced substantially parallel members extending respectively longitudinally at each side of said digger and picker, a single pair of wheels supporting said frame substantially midway between the ends thereof, a platform carried by said frame at one end of said elevating means and disposed at the side of said elevating means for supporting a picking operator and a platform at the rear end of said elevating means for supporting a bagging operator.

2. A combined potato digger and picker constructed and arranged to be drawn and driven from a power tractor having in combination, a frame, a digger supported from said frame comprising a digger blade and an open work elevating mechanism disposed adjacent the rear end of said blade for receiving potatoes from said blade and sifting and elevating the same, a picker supported on said frame comprising an elevating means longitudinall alined with said elevating mechanism having a substantially horizontal portion of considerable extent disposed beneath the discharge end of said elevating mechanism, means for driving said elevating mechanism and said elevating means from said tractor, said frame comprising a, pair of substantially horizontal members extending longitudinally respectively at each side of said digger and picker and a pair of wheels for supporting said frame, digger and picker disposed substantially between said digger and picker.

3. A combined potato digger and picker constructed and arranged to be drawn and driven from a power tractor having in combination, an elongated substantially horizontal frame having spaced substantially parallel side members disposed respectively at the sides of said picker and digger, means for connecting said frame at its front end to a power tractor, a pair of wheels for supporting said frame adjacent the center thereof, a potato digger comprising an elevating mechanism supported at the front end of said frame and a potato lifting blade, a potato picker comprising an elevating means carried at the rear end of said frame and longitudinally alined with said elevating mechanism, said elevating means having a front receiving end spaced below the rear discharge end of said elevating mechanism and adapted to receive from said elevating mechanism, and means adjacent the front end of said frame for raising and lowering the front end of said frame to raise and lower said blade while maintaining said relation between the rear end of said elevating mechanism and the front end of said elevating means.

4. A combined potato digger and picker constructed and arranged to be drawn by and driven from a power tractor having in combination, a frame, a, digger supported from said frame comprising a digger blade and an openwork elevating mechanism disposed adjacent the rear end of said blade for receiving potatoes from said blade and sifting and elevating the same, a picker supported on said frame comprising an elevating means longitudinally alined with said elevatin mechanism and having a substantially horizontal front end spaced a considerable distance below and adapted to receive from the rear end of said elevating mechanism, a platform carried at the lower part of said frame and disposed alongside of said elevatingmeans, a downwardly and rearwardly extending chute at the rear end of said elevating means to which said elevating means delivers, means on said chute for holding a bag and a platform for supporting bags and bagging operators disposed below and rearwardly of said chute.

5. Ihe structure set forth in claim 4 and said frame having spaced substantiall parallel side members disposed respectively at the sides of said picker and digger and a single pair of wheels for supporting said frame rotatable about an axis disposed substantially midway of said frame and at the rear end of said elevating mechanism.

6. A combined potato digger and picker device constructed and arranged to be drawn in the rear of the power tractor having in combination, a

frame, a digger mechanism supported by said frame including an elevating mechanism for the potatoes and vines, said elevating mechanism having a discharge upper end, a picker comprising an endless openwork carrier having a front substantially horizontal receiving portion disposed beneath and spaced vertically a substantial distance from said discharge end and adapted to receive potatoes and vines from said discharge end, said carrier having a rear upwardly inclined portion leading from said horizontal portion, means for supporting picking operators at the sides of said upwardly inclined portion, said frame having spaced substantially parallel side members disposed respectively at the sides of said picker and digger, a pair of wheels for supporting said device disposed respectively at the outer sides of said frame and substantially midway of the same longitudinally and revoluble about an axis disposed substantially at said discharge end, said wheels constituting the sole supporting means for said device and frame.

EBEN D. DAHLMAN.

REFERENCES CKTED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,569,038 Schmechel et al. Jan. 12, 1926 1,580,683 Sang Apr. 13, 1926 1,682,554 Dahlman Aug. 28, 1928 1,333,493 Kilkenny Mar. 9, 1920 1,848,781 Hansen Mar. 8, 1932 1,935,908 Johnson Nov. 21, 1933 2,015,549 Dwyer Sept. 24, 1935 1,487,273 Sang Mar. 18, 1924 2,379,198 Templeton June 26, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 404,199 Germany Oct. 13, 1924 543,411 Great Britain Feb. 24, 1942 

